Figma's IPO

I had a blast doing a solo parent yesterday with Colin as Sophia went into the office. I mostly took the day off and took Colin to the Bay Area Discovery Museum which was a ton of fun. He got to crawl and climb on everything there and I got to relax a bit knowing that everything was baby safe. Watching him grow and seeing his personality evolve has been a joy. Even with the stress of him pooping 3 times including one all over his pack and play was worth it.

In other news, Figma went public yesterday at $33 per share and opened at $85 per share. The stock closed the day at $115.50. We’ll see if it holds, but this appears to be a brutal mispricing by the bankers for a household tech name.

I expect to see a ton of VCs including Bill Gurley get back on the microphone blasting these traditional IPOs. On one hand, it’s good for employees as the stock price did go up which is what you want. On the other hand, the company sold shares at $33 when it was evident that they could have sold them at a much higher price.

I wonder what the discussions were around a potential direct listing. Admittedly I have not dug into the financials of Figma at all, but if they did not need the cash then this likely would have been a much better situation for everyone if they just went the direct listing route.

Not every company has the ability to do a direct listing, but for a company with a brand name like Figma, it could have made a lot more sense. I’m excited to dig into the commentary on this in the future by VCs and other investors out there.